Shox vs. K-State - POSTPONED

[SPEShockAlum]

Game has been postponed this evening.

[Cdizzle]

Could've just given all the fielders bats to protect themselves from hailstones. If you make contact, it counts as a strike on the opposing batter.

[shockfan89_]

The game with K-State will be played Wednesday, May 4th at 6:30pm.

[Aargh]

Could've just given all the fielders bats to protect themselves from hailstones. If you make contact, it counts as a strike on the opposing batter.

But would they even take the bats off their shoulders, or just go down looking up at the sky?

[im4wsu]

We can count this as a WIN, can't we?

[1972Shocker]

But would they even take the bats off their shoulders, or just go down looking up at the sky?

That was a much bigger problem earlier in the year than it has been lately. I have to give the young Shocker hitters some credit for the way they have upped their work at the plate lately.

In Valley play (9 games/23 or more at bats) the Shocker's leading hitters are as follows:

Fr. Dayton Dugas 0.429 BA, 0.469 OBA, 0.607 SLP, 3 BB to 7 SO
Fr. Greyson Jenista 0.400 BA, 0.550 OBA, 0.667 SLP, 9 BB to 2 SO
Fr. Alec Bohm, 0.400 BA, 0.500 SLP, 1 BB to 0 SO
Fr. Luke Ritter, 0.385, 0.462 SLP, 3 BB to 1 SO

So. Gunnar Troutwine 0.345 BA, 0.459 OBA, 0.448 SLP, 7 BB to 8 SO
So. Trey Vickers 0.321 BA, 0.367 OBA, 0.321 SLP, 2 BB to 2 SO

Group Totals: 0.379 BA, 0.471 OBA, 0.503 SLP, 25 BB to 20 SO

On the other hand our upper classmen with 23 or more at bats in Valley play are:

Sr. Mikel Mucha 0.278 BA, 0.357 OBA, 0.333 SLP, 5 BB to 5 SO
Sr. Chase Rader 0.154 BA, 0.233 OBA, 0.192 SLP, 5 BB to 5 SO
Sr. Tanner Kirk 0.103 BA, 0.206 OBA, 0.103 SLP, 4 BB to 9 SO
Sr. Ryan Tinkham 0.043 BA, 0.120 OBA, 0.087 SLP, 2 BB to 7 SO

Group Totals: 0.158 BA, 0.267 OBA, 0.193 SLP, 16 BB to 26 SO

The difference between the underclassmen and the seniors is stunning. I hear Tanner Kirk may have an injury that is effecting his performance, but still these numbers are crazy.

In any case, I think we have better chance of hitting the hail stones then throwing them and hitting a stationary target. Our pitching is still our Achilles heel and despite occasional glimpses of competence it is still this team's biggest concern in my opinion. And with Willie Schwanke and Regan Biechler both being big question marks injury-wise going forward I am not terrible hopeful about it getting much better.

[shockfan89_]

I agree the Freshmen hitting has been awesome the past few weeks. I prefer to think it is due to them catching on to college pitching and starting to really get it, but I also wonder how much of it is based on the quality of pitching in the 11th/12th ranked MVC versus what we see during the mid-week games. Either way you have to admit we have gotten more timely hits the past two weekends which is great.

I caught part of the HCTB radio show last night and heard him urging bigger swings and more extra base hits over all of the singles we have been seeing. That really scared me because I think that was what led to all of the SOs the first half of the season. I think the hitters that have been successful the past few weeks have been cutting down their swings rather than swinging for the fences. I sure hope that doesn't change.

[1972Shocker]

I prefer to think it is due to them catching on to college pitching and starting to really get it, but I also wonder how much of it is based on the quality of pitching in the 11th/12th ranked MVC versus what we see during the mid-week games.

I thought about the quality of pitching issue but if that was the case you would expect the upperclassmen to benefit also and they certainly have not. In fact, what is stunning about the numbers is the chasm between the young guys and the seniors as much as the absolute numbers.

I had the same thought about HCTB's comment about wanting the guys to swing harder. I thought that was shockingly dumb comment and may explain a lot. I agree that shortening the swings and being willing to go up the middle and to the opposite field has helped the young guys. Alec Bohm's game winning hit Sunday was a great example of just make solid contact and hitting a decent 2-strike pitch to right center. Not sure what the hell is going on with the upperclassmen. Thought Shane Dennis or maybe HCTB may have mentioned some kind of injury issue with Tanner.

[shockfan89_]

Tinkham and Kirk haven't been playing as often so they might not have benefited as much if the quality of pitching has been the difference. IMHO Mucha and especially Rader are still pressing and loading up for that one big swing. When they were patient this weekend good things happened, when they swung early, they either popped/flew out or grounded out. It seems they both also got on via error a couple times.

[1972Shocker]

Moved to "Fire Butler" thread.